About 55K

This three part video about 55,000 Degrees, funded by The Lumina Foundation, gives an overview of 55K’s background, and activities being done by 55K partners.

Introduction

The Business Community

The African-American Community

LOUISVILLE WAS AT A CROSSROADS as city and county governments merged in 2003. With unity came a community consensus to take stock of our city’s strengths and our challenges.

Whether the issue was attracting new jobs or improving quality of life for all residents, the top priority for the new city of Louisville to flourish became increasingly clear: Education.

The rewards:

More opportunities for individuals as lifetime earnings nearly double with a college degree. More opportunities for the city as it competes for 21st-century jobs and improves its quality of life.

The Greater Louisville Project, an organization that has benchmarked the city’s progress since merger, consistently listed education as the most important deep driver for positive change. And the community had united behind a number of education initiatives including improving reading and graduation rates.

To jumpstart a new level of community conversation, Mayor Jerry Abramson invited school superintendents, college and university presidents and civic leaders to a new Education Roundtable in late 2008.

The challenge:

To look at strategies to raise educational attainment and create transformational change. At the same time, Business Leaders for Education, organized by Greater Louisville Inc., called for the urgent need to respond to global competitiveness challenges. They brought in the Business Higher Education Forum in August 2009 to help with a retreat to focus on solutions. Goal teams headed by university leaders rolled up their sleeves and developed a plan.

And in May 2010, the members of the Roundtable signed the historic Greater Louisville Education Commitment with five key objectives:

Create and support a college-going culture

Use the business community’s unique points of leverage to accelerate attainment

Prepare students for success in college, career, citizenship and life

Make post-secondary education accessible and affordable

Increase educational persistence, performance and progress

In October 2010, a new public-private partnership called 55,000 Degrees took on this mission with the support of local foundations to launch Louisville into the top tier of our competitor cities with the bold goal of adding 40,000 bachelor’s degrees and 15,000 associate degrees by 2020.